I realize that this might not be the best place to post this question - but this forum has been helpful in the past and I tend to like the mindsets of many of the members.

I quit WoW after Hurricane Sandy. Our town was hit hard with damage and the weeks after the storm were a blur - the months after it didn't go as fast, but there was not time for WoW.

I realize that Mists has been better than Cata. I realize that a new ExPac is launching (relatively) soon.

But I can't come back to WoW. I hated Cata. The repetition has gotten to me (How many times can I become the Master of Purple Cloth, Then Blue, Then Brown, and now Blue-Green....) The game is also very mature - I'd like to start with something that's a bit younger in it's Life-cycle.

So - what are people looking at?

I Really wanted SWTOR to succeed but have heard nothing but negativity. I came from FFXI and the new offering from Square looks plagued with problems and Square-Enix is not the company that made my favorites from the past.

A Semi-MMO out there (it isn't really an MMO but it kinda-sorta feels like one with long-term progression) is Warframe, though it isn't medieval type, and it is more Action-y. It is a Third-Person Shooter (with very fast-paced movement and even parkour!) where you play a space ninja that can equip all sorts of guns and melee weapons, and you fight everything from zombies, to cloned marines, to robots.

It is also 100% free (available on Steam), and now with the trading system they just implemented, it is possible to get just about anything in the game without ever paying money if you've a little patience. It is also a game where you can log on and get something done in as little as 10 minutes.

Where you from, Borsuk? I'm right across the bay from LBI in NJ, so I know what you mean.

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I Really wanted SWTOR to succeed but have heard nothing but negativity. I came from FFXI and the new offering from Square looks plagued with problems and Square-Enix is not the company that made my favorites from the past.

SWTOR is a REALLY solid game. But it's solid for reasons you don't typically equate with MMOs. It's essentially a great single player game, with solid replayability.

The PVP games are fun enough, and I hear they're reasonably balanced, but it's not really a PVP game (and I don't think they have an arena system). I never hear much of anything about raiding, but I know there IS a raiding population. Dungeons are fun enough as you go through.

They just introduced PVP space battles, which people seem to be excited about?

But essentially, imagine a single player BioWare style RPG with multiplayer elements (like heroic areas/quests and group quests that actually involve group dialogue and such).

And the F2P model, while way over-monetized at first, has evened out to a pretty fair place for someone coming in. I'd still suggesting making A purchase, to get preferred status, but that's all you really need to spend. And you can easily evaluate whether or not you enjoy the game before doing that.

So, TL;DR: SWTOR is definitely worth trying. If you're not going to be interested in an RPG that focuses on story, it might not be for you, but there's nothing particularly wrong with it.

It's decently polished. It's biggest issue is that it doesn't reinvent much outside of the story. But it definitely deserves a lot of praise on the story front.

I might someday I get bored, maybe later in Mists before WoD comes out, once I get some of my projects done.

I mean, it's F2P, so you don't really have anything to lose. :P

The other thing is that it'll be a lot easier to treat it like a single player game than a MMO. There ARE typical MMO things once you get to cap (reps and such), but they essentially don't exist at all while leveling.

Really, it's essentially like if you had a modern KOTOR that had 8 different "main" story lines you could choose to follow, plus the imperial/republic story lines, and the fun of choosing your path and designing a character with a personality.

That makes it really easy to put down when you don't feel like playing, yet rewarding when you pick it up and do. Just like any other single player RPG.

SWTOR had come a long way since launch. It's F2P system is an annoying series of hoops to jump through, but the game itself is pretty solid. They've filled in a lot of the gaps over the last year or two. TERA was a fun diversion for a couple months (and a newer game as well), but after you get over how awesome the combat feels you're left with a sub-par story and all the fun of a grindy Asian MMO.

I might someday I get bored, maybe later in Mists before WoD comes out, once I get some of my projects done.

I mean, it's F2P, so you don't really have anything to lose. :P

The other thing is that it'll be a lot easier to treat it like a single player game than a MMO. There ARE typical MMO things once you get to cap (reps and such), but they essentially don't exist at all while leveling.

Really, it's essentially like if you had a modern KOTOR that had 8 different "main" story lines you could choose to follow, plus the imperial/republic story lines, and the fun of choosing your path and designing a character with a personality.

That makes it really easy to put down when you don't feel like playing, yet rewarding when you pick it up and do. Just like any other single player RPG.

*nods* The main issue is downloading (takes forever to download stuff when you got a 350K/sec speed) and of course time to actually play it. It is on my todo list.

I've really been looking forward to ESO, being a big Skyrim fan. But lately I got back into WoW and with them both being subscription games, I'm not sure what direction I'll go in. I agree with Fish that it looks pretty much like Skyrim with other people - which is a plus for some but a minus for others. If you like Skyrim, milk drinkers, or arrows to the knee, I imagine it would be worth checking out.

I've really been looking forward to ESO, being a big Skyrim fan. But lately I got back into WoW and with them both being subscription games, I'm not sure what direction I'll go in. I agree with Fish that it looks pretty much like Skyrim with other people - which is a plus for some but a minus for others. If you like Skyrim, milk drinkers, or arrows to the knee, I imagine it would be worth checking out.

The thing about ESO is I wonder just how the crap they're going to balance that stuff.

The whole premise behind Elder Scrolls games is that you can train your character in any way you want, by doing things. Want to raise Restoration? Go cast some Restoration spells. Want to raise Heavy Armor? Wear Heavy Armor into battle and get hit.

Makes for simply awesome Single-Player games (like Skyrim).

But for MMOs.... anyone can be anything, there's no grouping value in that. If everybody was able to level up Restoration, Heavy Armor, 2-Handed Weapons, Destruction, and Archery..... where, again, do you get the Group content when everybody is a Jack of All Trades?

Sure, you could limit that by placing your choice of a million different systems in the game....

..........but would it still be an Elder Scrolls game? You can't call it "ELDER SCROLLS Online" if it doesn't even feel like an Elder Scrolls game (because you put restrictions on what your character can be or do). That just seems silly to me. You can't remove/limit/restrict the #1 thing that makes an Elder Scrolls game, an Elder Scrolls game in the first place and still call it "Elder Scrolls Online".

That's what's getting me about this whole thing.

Actually, I'll check it.... yeah, looks like they implemented a Class System with Skill Trees.

Not sure if it'd feel like an ES game, or "First-Person WoW". I suppose I'll wait and see until the YT videos start coming out.

Yeah, they use a class system. Which I can't really get over, and is a pretty huge strike against the game for me. And it's a PVP-centric game, which continues to confuse the **** out of me.

I also absolutely hated the controls when I played the beta, so atm I've almost completely checked out of the game.

Wildstar and EQ are what have my attention in the next year.

Eeeeew.......PvP on top of that?

Assuming it is FPP, I wonder how many hit detection issues there will be, or are we going to get targets and range now like every other MMO has to avoid things like latency being a factor (WoW is bad enough with the "Target needs to be in front of you!" spam if you've got 150ms+; I couldn't imagine trying to hit someone with an arrow).

Oh, the storm is long gone, but TY for the comments... Frankly, the birth of our first child was just as much (Definitely more) a reason to my stopping WoW.

I checked out SWTOR but it's not for me - Meaning, My crappy HP Crashed 2x while trying to play.... I guess I'll just look at WoW and see what it's like to be a non-raiding and non-PVP player... My old guild never kicked me - maybe I can be of some help to them while enjoying the story line...

Oh, the storm is long gone, but TY for the comments... Frankly, the birth of our first child was just as much (Definitely more) a reason to my stopping WoW.

I checked out SWTOR but it's not for me - Meaning, My crappy HP Crashed 2x while trying to play.... I guess I'll just look at WoW and see what it's like to be a non-raiding and non-PVP player... My old guild never kicked me - maybe I can be of some help to them while enjoying the story line...

TY

With LFR around, you don't need a raiding guild and you can do your weekly raiding at about 1 hour per raid per week. You'll still see all the bosses and at least get some purples for your character.

Or you could try Flex Raiding, or maybe your guild as you mentioned. There's still plenty to do for the non-raider, moreso than any other expansion before it.

Yeah, they use a class system. Which I can't really get over, and is a pretty huge strike against the game for me. And it's a PVP-centric game, which continues to confuse the **** out of me.

I also absolutely hated the controls when I played the beta, so atm I've almost completely checked out of the game.

Wildstar and EQ are what have my attention in the next year.

Eeeeew.......PvP on top of that?

Assuming it is FPP, I wonder how many hit detection issues there will be, or are we going to get targets and range now like every other MMO has to avoid things like latency being a factor (WoW is bad enough with the "Target needs to be in front of you!" spam if you've got 150ms+; I couldn't imagine trying to hit someone with an arrow).

The screen is bound to your mouse, like you were playing Skyrim. But you "target" whatever is closest to the cursor, essentially, when you use an ability or attack (unless you're way off, of course). So accuracy from aiming isn't really a thing, just whether or not you're close enough to hit the target (and I think accuracy as a stat but I can't remember).

That's half the price of an average lunch. If I get at least 10 hours out of it, it'll be quite a bargain (considering that many $50+ Triple A titles only yield ~20 hours...).

And then there's things like Starbound which I've put 50 hours into and it is still in Early Access Beta (which means there's lots more to come!) and Terraria (111 hours so far and I've still a decent amount of content to see), it is yet one more nail in the coffin as to why I don't do console games anymore, and why MMOs are a thing of the past for me, except for WoW (because I still find it fun after all these years).

Though I think here near the end of MoP I might either give FFXIV a try, or muck around in Istaria for a bit while I wait on WoD. Depends on when WoD comes out; I estimate I should have my Armor / Bag Projects done by ~April '14. Stupid Daily Cooldowns, anyways.

I just started playing FFXIv about a month and a half ago, and I must say it is an excellent game. I'd been considering coming back to WoW for WoD (and starting completely over), but FFXIV is so much fun I don't think I'm going to. I also played SW:TOR for a while, and it was a fun game, but there just wasn't enough content at max level and they weren't releasing new content fast enough. The best part of SW:TOR was the crafting system. It was very in-depth and a lot of fun.

I just started playing FFXIv about a month and a half ago, and I must say it is an excellent game. I'd been considering coming back to WoW for WoD (and starting completely over), but FFXIV is so much fun I don't think I'm going to. I also played SW:TOR for a while, and it was a fun game, but there just wasn't enough content at max level and they weren't releasing new content fast enough. The best part of SW:TOR was the crafting system. It was very in-depth and a lot of fun.